Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-02-09
Is the Christian Religion a Cheat?
THE KING OF RABYLON'S MODES OF
DIVINTATION.

-
THE KING OF RABYLoN,s MODES OF
CHE MADE HIS ARROWS BRIGHT,
HE CONSULTED WITH IMAGES,
HE LOOKED IN THE LIVER"
SOME GREAT CAPTIVES OF THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
BEAUTIFUL. ELOQUENT AND TOUCHING
EXAMPLES.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE's SERMON SUNDAY, JAN
UARY BOTH.
BROOKLYN, January 30.-At the Taber
nacle this morning, the Rev. Il. De Witt
Talmage. DID,, baptized by immersion
number of persons who preferred that mode
as, on the Sunday previous, he had baptised
by sprinkling those who SO desired. Prof.
Browne, the organist. rendered the Sonata
in minor by Rheinberger. The opening
hymn. sung by the whole congregation, was
that beginning:
20. happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Saviour and my God.''
After reading another list of those who
during the week had united with the church
DR.. Talmage discussed the subject: ''ls the
Christian Religion Cheat?' His text
was: ''He made his arrows bright, he con-
suited with images, he looked in the liver"
Ezekiel 90, 81. The preacher said:
Two modes of divination by which the
King of Babylon proposed to find out the
will of God. He took bundle of arrows,
put them together, mixed them up, then
pulled forth one, and by the inscription on
it decided what city he should first assault
Then an animal was slain, and by the light
er or darker color of the liver, the brighter
or darker prospect of success was inferred
That is the meaning of the text: "He made
his arrews bright, he consulted with i'm
ages, he looked in the liver.''
Stupid delusien! And yet all the ages
have been filled with delusions. 1t seems
as if the WORLD loves to be hoodwinked, the
delusion of the text only specimen of a vast
number of decets pl acticed upon the human
| race. In the latter part of the last century
johanna Southcote came forth pretending
to have divine power, made prophecies, had
chapels built in her honor, and one hundred
thousand disciples came forth to follow her.
About five years before the birth of Christ
Appollonius was born, and he came forth,
and after five years being speechess accord
ing to the tradition, he healed the sick and
raised the dead, and preached virtue, and,
according to the myth, having deceased, was
brought to resurrection
The Delphic Oracle deceived vast multi
tudes of people; the Pythoness seated ia
the Temple of Apollo uttering a crazy jar
gon from which the people guessed their
individual OR national fortunes or misfort-
unes The utterances were of such ma
ture that you could read them any way you
wanted to read them. A general, going
forth to battle. consulted the Delphic Oracle,
and he wanted to find out whether he was
going to be safe in the battle or killed in the
battle, and the answer came forth from the
Delphie Oracle in such words that if you put
the comma before the werd ssnever'' il
means one thing, and if you. put the comma
after the word "never" it means another
thing just opposite. The message from the
Delphic Oracle to the general was: s'Go
forth, return never in battle shalt thou
perish" If he was killed that was accord
ing to the Delphic Oracle; if he came home
safely that was according to the Delphic
| Oracle. So the ancient auguries deceived
| the people. The priests of these auguries,
by the flight of birds or by the intonation
of thnnder, OF by the inside appearance of
slain animals, told the fortunes or nisfert-
unes of individuals or nations. The sibyls
deceived the people. The sibyls were sup
posed to be inspired wemen, who lived in
caves and who wrote the sibplline books, af-
terward purchased by Tarquin the Proud.
So late as the year 1920 man arose in New
York, pretending to be divine being, and
| playing his part SO well that wealthy mer-
chants became his disciples and threw Their
| fortunes into his discipleship. And SO in
all ages there have been necromances, in
| carnations, witchcrafts, sorceries, ma gical
| arts, enchantments, divinalions and delu-
sions. The one of the text was only speci-
men of that which has been transpiring in
all ages of the world. None of these delu-
| sions accomplished any good. They de-
eeived, they paupsrised the people; they
were as cruel as they were absurd. They
opened no hospitals, they healed no wounds,
| they wiped away no tears, they einancipat-
ed no serfdom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing compar-
| ed with the delusion now abroad in the
world, the dslusien OF the Christian religion.
That delusion has to day two hundred nil
| lion dupes. 1t proposes to encircle the earth
with its grdle. That which has been called
| delusion has already overshadowed the
| Appalachian range on this side the sea, and
it has overshadewed the Balkan and Caucas-
sian ranges on the other side the sea- 1t
has conquered England and the United
States. This champion delusion, this hoax,
this swindle of the ages, as il has been
called, has gone forth to conquer the islands
of the Pacific; the Melanasia and the
Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia have al
| ready surrendered to the delusion. Yea, it
has eonquele ed the Indian Archipelago; and
Berneo, and Sumatra and Celebes and Java
have fallen under its wiles. In the FIJI Is
10 nd mn
have already become the dupes of this
Christian religion, and if things go on as
they are now going on, and if The influence
of this great hallueination of the ages can
not be stopped, it will swallow the globe.
Suppesing, then, that Christianity is the de-
| lusion of the centuries, some have pro-
nounced it, propose this morning to show
you what has been accomplished by this
| chimera, this fallacy, this hoax, this swir-
die of the ages.
| And in the first place, I remark, that this
| deluslen OF the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations of human char
acter. l will go down the aisle Of any
chnrch in Christendom, and I will find en-
either side that aisle those who we're once
profligate, prefane, unclean of speech, and
uncean of action, drunken and lost. But
! by the power of this delusion of the Chris
tian religion they have been completely
transformed, and now they are kind and
amable and genial and loving and useful.
Everybody sees the change. Under the
power of this great hallucin.ation they have
quit their former associate 5, and whereas
| they once found their chief delight among
those who gambled and slvore and raced
horses, now they find their chief joy among
these who go to prayer meetings and
churches; SO complete is the delusien. Yea,
their own families have noticed 1.-THE wife
has noticed it, the children has noticed it.
The money that went for rum now goes fer
books and for clothes and for education
He is a new man. All who know him say
there has been a wonderful change. What
is the CAUSE of this change? This great
hallucination of the Christian religion
There is as much difference bstween what
he is now andiwhat he once was, as between
q lose and nettle. as netXRen a dove and